By Tim Binnall
Several students at a school in Zimbabwe have fallen victim to a strange hysteria that some in the community believe to be the result of sinister spirits. According to a local media report, the unsettling case is currently unfolding at the Sikajaya Muntanga Primary School in the village of Binga. A few weeks ago, students began inexplicably fainting during class and, in some instances, running from the room in fright while "claiming to have been visited or tormented by malevolent spirits."
To date, a total of seventeen children have experienced the 'hauntings' that understandably have parents and administrators concerned. "My son is a victim of an unknown and yet to be discovered spirit," declared the father of one boy who mysteriously collapsed at the school and was subsequently unresponsive for an hour. Since then, the man lamented, the youngster has been lethargic and unable to focus on his studies. Hoping to find a solution to the students' suffering, a multi-faith ritual was recently held at the school.
However, the evening event seemingly only exacerbated the situation as, according to Zimbabwean media, "some children reported frightening visions of images of 'people of the waters,' shadowy figures cloaked in black, and voices calling to them in the night." Despite their unnerving accounts, skeptics of the supernatural will undoubtedly argue that the kids are suffering from mass hysteria, noting the observation of a school administrator, who likened the 'spirit hauntings' to a sickness wherein "if one child falls, others fall too, and when one recovers, others recover as well."